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on thin air

The other night I took out the rear seats in the car and built the "back seat delete". I weighed all the seats, headrests, and hardware I stripped out and it ended up at just about 60lbs, give or take.

Many people have built this delete but no one's posted pics/tips/how....not that its all that hard, but I thought this might help. I also only built a piece to cover where the back seats were and used the stock rear deck / trunk piece. So take the template hints from here and apply it to the rear area as well, if you like.

Tools you will need:

Torx set

Circular saw

Jigsaw

Staple gun

Drill

Square

Pencil

Tape measure

Razor blade or utility knife

Trowel for carpet adhesive

Materials:

Sheet of 3/8" OSB or preferred material for decking

2 x 4 Stud

Car carpeting

Carpet adhesive

Cardboard

First things first - you need to strip out the seats. I am not going to go into a step by step on this. You will need a torx set for this...have fun, lol. The bottoms come off in two pieces and the backrests as one piece. There is a hinge you need to take apart right at the base of where the backrests split, then unbolt the backrests from the hinges and then unbolt the bottom mounts of the seat belts. You should be good to pull the back rests out and then strip out the rest of the hardware.

Now to build the deck.
The first thing you will probably want to do is cut the 2x4 that is going to support the front of the deck. I measured 50 3/8" across and cut the ends at a slight angle like so /==============\ About 5 degrees is all you need.

Next, you will want to make a template for the deck. I was wondering exactly how I was going to do this since the inside panels arent exactly straight lines...and then it dawned on me how easy this actually was.

Lay your 2x4 where you plan on putting it and then lay your cardboard across the span, butted up against the side panel. Then, with a somewhat steady hand (if you are having detox shakes, get some help), hold a pencil at an angle and put the eraser against the side panel...use this as a guide to draw your line, like so:

When you are done, you should have something similar to this:

Then you want to cut it out with a utility knife / razor blade / etc and test fit it to make sure it fits to your liking. Obviously, you will want to trim it where you see fit. Here's how mine came out - first shot:

The two sides are the same, so it should fit fine on either side, but test it just for good measure anyways. Once you are satisfied, get ready to cut that sheet of OSB.

From front to back, I cut my sheet 36" long because I planned on using the existing rear deck (trying to keep the weight to a minimum) and it left enough length to use the trunk area to support the back end of the deck. I also did my piece of OSB in two pieces. I cut the first piece to just about 25" and the other half to 27". I laid both sides in there with the shorter piece laying on top of the longer - positioned the pieces where I wanted them and then traced the overlap.

Now, take the two halves and screw them together. I cut a piece of 2x4 and placed it on end like so \=====/ This not only joins the pieces of wood but also adds some support to the middle and will rest nicely in the divot where the seats used to be, keeping it from sliding forward if you ever decide it would be fun to slam on your brakes.

Drop it in and test fit:

Now you are ready to carpet this beast. Just wrap the carpet around the pieces and staple it down with the staple gun....

On the deck itself, I got some floor/carpet adhesive and troweled it on first, then laid the carpet down, wrapped the edges and stapled it down. The adhesive just ensures that the carpet wont stretch and get weird bubbles in it over time.

Once you are done, you are ready to drop it all in place and screw the deck to the 2x4.

Here is the final fit (not too shabby I must say):

Extras:
If you want to do the rear area as well, you can use the pencil/carboard technique to trace out templates for a rear sheet as well. You may also want to cover up the areas along the front, where the hinges for the bottoms were. I have seen people cut an addl sheet and carpet it to sit in front of this area. You may even use the hinges to make the deck flip up, so you can hide contraband in there, body parts, tow strap, etc.

on thin air

Thanks. I didnt take out the seat belts on the sides out, so occasionally I hear them move...like over a decent jolt, but no new annoying sounds. I can hear the sub way better now...thats a plus []

I did this for two reasons really...first was weight reduction, since I am now in Street Mod and can do it, second (and mainly) for stuffing my camping gear, snowboarding gear, etc in the back. My seat is all the way back and with the rears folded down, I couldnt really tilt my seat much at all. Besides, the hatch is a 3 seater at best.

Registered

Yeah, the dragon is removable, it just velcros in, but, so far the only thing I've really noticed is that it's actually a little quieter from the back, I used a thin layer of foam rubber on the bottom, and it really quiets the exhaust sound, but, I haven't really done any hard driving to notice a difference in performance

Registered

I'm not sold on the dragon either, my friends all said I should put it in, but it was originally supposed to be under the carpet and very subtle, but the carpet wouldn't form around it, I'll probably find somewhere else to use it

Registered

I don't really have much free time these days, I started my own company and work all the time, it took me like two weeks to do mine, I just did a little whenever I could get away from the phones and computer, but, I still have my cardboard cutout, I could send that to you and let you know where I got the materials, it's actually pretty easy to make one if you have the cutout already done, I can also take pictures of the bottom of the delete so you can see how I stretched the carpet and put the foam rubber on, sorry, if I weren't so busy, I would make one for you

Registered

What's the possibility of having you trace me a stencil on paper and mailing it to me. I'll be more than happy to send you a $5 spot for your trouble and shipping. You may even want to make extra copies for others that are going to want the same.

Registered

sure, anyone that wants one, just send me a pm, if I get some time tomorrow, I'll try to make some copies and put together a little info on exactly how I made mine and the materials I used, I can probably even trace the whole thing out on paper, just kick me some rep if it helps

Focus Fanatic

I did a back seat delete for my sedan. Its not the same as it is for a hatch, but I am very happy with how it turned out. If you take out the bottom part of the back seat(the part you sit on) then you can fold the back of the seat down completely flat. So, technically I only took out the bottom part of the back seat, but I really like it. I have my 2 12" subs facing me and the bass is awsome. The main reason I left the back of the seat intact is so that when I park my car I can fold the back of the seat up and keep my subs hidden so they dont get stolen. I really like how roomy it makes my car feel with this setup. Plus the weight reduction is also a plus.

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